While our student-athletes are taking a break from the classroom during their While our student-athletes may be taking a break from the classroom during Christmas vacation, the training doesn’t stop.
And for a select group of dedicated athletes, neither does the competing.
This weekend, several of our track & field athletes will be in action at the TRACK at New Balance, host of Saturday’s MSTCA Boston Holiday Challenge and Sunday’s third annual Marathon Sports Winter Warrior Classic.
Here we preview the Boston Holiday Challenge where Rhode Island has four top seeds.
La Salle Academy’s Garrett Giroux-Pezzullo sits atop the 400-meter field with a seed time of 48.75 seconds, set during his victory at last June’s State Meet. The Boston University commit has already shown strong early-season form, placing fourth in the Open 400m at the BU Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener on Dec. 4, where he ran an indoor best of 49.41.
Giroux-Pezzullo will face stiff competition on Saturday. Milton’s Mile Fergus (MA) holds the second seed after winning last spring’s Meet of Champions with a personal best of 49.02 and recording four sub-50 performances last year. Three others in the field have also dipped under 50 seconds: Connecticut’s Austin Shapard (49.20), Walpole’s Brady Thomas (49.43), and Bloomfield (CT)’s Javonni Reynolds (49.87). Thomas is the defending champion, having won last year’s race in his current PR.
Along with teammates Jalen Mosely, Antonio Bearden, and Jackson Alves, Giroux-Pezzullo will also run a leg on La Salle’s top-seeded 4x200m relay. The Rams enter with a time of 1:28.10 from the O’Grady Relays on April 25. Attleboro (MA) is seeded second at 1:30.71, while St. Raphael Academy holds the fifth seed at 1:32.91. La Salle will no doubt be chasing the automatic qualifier of 1:30.75 for the New Balance Nationals.
Coming off a personal-best performance at the Beantown Winter Classic, Ponaganset’s Amber Shaw is favored in the girls’ pole vault. Shaw cleared 11 feet, 6 inches at the Dec. 21 meet to finish second overall. The Chieftain senior, who was the runner-up at last spring’s State Meet, has cleared a mark a foot and a half higher than her closest rival, Emmi McCarthy of Andover (MA).
Michael Ferland of Smithfield is the No. 7 seed in the boys’ pole vault with a height of 12-0.
Moses Brown enters with the top-seeded sprint medley relay squad. The quartet of Kendra Satine, Kathryn Gauvin, Rose Couto, and Skylar Maxwell owns a seed time of 4:10.
Eamon O’Brien will look to make an impact in the 600 meters. The Ram senior ranks third overall with a seed of 1:25.20 but has run as fast as 1:23.77. The top seed belongs to Connor Earle of Duxbury (CT), who carries a best of 1:24.62. Seven athletes in the field have broken 1:26.
Smithfield’s Taylor McGinnis is entered in both the weight throw and shot put. She ranks second in the weight with a seed of 50-6.5, while Ponaganset’s Cece Bizo (46-7.5) and Smithfield’s Ucema Ezeama (44-9.25) sit at fourth and sixth, respectively. McGinnis is also seeded seventh in the shot put with a best of 35-10.25.
In the Varsity Mile, Cumberland’s Charli McCue (5:07.73) and St. Raphael’s Mackenzie Lickert rank among the top contenders. McCue is the fifth seed, with Lickert close behind in sixth. The favorite is Alexis Paterna of Exeter (NH), who enters with a time of 4:53.05.
Here’s a list of other top seeds at Saturday’s competition:
Boys’ weight throw
5. Kaede Manni, Smithfield 57-2.25
Triple Jump
3. Reece Vitale, Cranston West 37-8
1,000m
7. Joseph McFarland, St. Raphael 2:38.96
300m
3. Lillian Racine, Ponaganset, 41.55
800m
3. Ellie Jackson Ponaganet, 2:20.78
10 Lickert, St. Raphael, 2:24.90
200m
7. Francesca Justin, St. Raphael, 25.63
Boys 200m
10. Jackson Alves, La Salle, 22.64
4x800m
6. St. Raphael, 8:28
